Abiamiri anxious for impact

Thursday, June 11, 2009

BY MARK ECKEL

Special to the Times

PHILADELPHIA -- Victor Abiamiri smiled when the reporter
blurted out his bold prediction that the big defensive end
would not only win the Eagles' starting job, but make
the Pro Bowl, while his alma mater Notre Dame would return
to prominence.

"In a perfect world, all of that happens,"
Abiamiri said. "Right now, we'll just see how it
goes."

Through the Eagles' minicamps and OTAs, it's
going pretty well for Abiamiri, entering his third season
with the Eagles after being drafted in the second round out
of Notre Dame.

"I'm healthy," he said. "I
haven't been able to say that since July 27, 2008. So
from that standpoint alone, I'm doing a lot better than
I have."

Abiamiri was supposed to come in and win that starting
left defensive end job opposite Pro Bowl right end Trent
Cole as a rookie.

"He's a natural left end; perfect for that
defense," a scout told The Times after Abiamiri was
drafted.

For a variety of reasons, Abiamiri played in just six
games as a rookie and wasn't much of a factor for an
Eagles team that finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

Last year a serious wrist injury suffered in the
preseason kept him from competing for the starting job in
training camp and also forced him to miss the first five
games of the season. Even when he came back in Week 6, he
wasn't 100 percent.

"This is the best I've felt in a long
time," he said. "I'm ready to go. I feel
I'm getting better every day."

Abiamiri contributed during the second half of last
season as the Eagles made their late playoff run, but he did
so as a third-down pass rusher from a defensive tackle spot.
That's not exactly his forte.

"No, but whatever they want me to do, I'll do," he said. "Jim (Johnson) likes to use a lot of lineman and we all have a role. Last year, I went inside. It wasn't anything I had ever done, but they thought I could do it."...